爱华网在美国，有好事者创立了一个斯特拉奖（StellaAwards），专门颁给最成功+荒诞的法律诉讼案的原告律师和痴傻陪审团。斯特拉奖以一个叫StellaLiebeck的新墨西哥州的妇人而得名。此老太太曾于1992年2月27日，79岁时，因在麦当劳的外卖窗口用49美分买了一杯热咖啡，在开车时自己不小心烫了腿；后于1994年，81高寿时，在巧舌如簧的律师和满脑糨糊的陪审团的互动下，成功打赢官司，从麦当劳得到286万美元的赔偿。史称麦当劳咖啡案，也叫热咖啡诉讼案（theMcDonald's coffee case and the hot coffeelawsuit）。从此，这个案子开启了一个荒诞诉讼的先例。2010年获奖的案子有：
第七名 德州奥斯丁案
有位叫Kathleen Robertson的妇女告赢一家家俱店，得到80万美元的赔偿，原因是她在该家俱店内奔跑时，被一小孩绊倒而扭伤了脚关节，店员没有制止小孩在店内玩耍。该小孩不是别人，正是她的儿子。
第六名 洛衫矶案
一位十九岁的青年 Carl Truman得到7.4万美元外加医疗费用的赔偿，因为他的邻居开车压过他的手。为什麽会发生？那位邻居开车时，没有注意到这位青年正在偷他汽车轮胎上的车盖。
第五名 宾州案
有位笨贼名叫TerrenceDickson，他在一家住宅行窃，当他试图从车库离开时，车库的自动开门装置坏了，门打不开，而回到房屋的门又关上锁住了。不巧屋主在外度假，於是笨贼被困在车库达八天之久，只靠一罐可乐和一袋狗食度日。义愤填膺的他怒告屋主的保险公司，赢得50万美元赔偿。
第四名 阿肯色小岩城案（前美国总统克林顿担任州长的地方）
有位 JerryWilliams屁股被隔壁邻居家的狼狗咬伤。狗为何咬他？因为他拿BB枪不停地打它，激怒了它。……这真的超白痴！法庭判决邻居赔他1.45万美元，再加医疗费用。
第三名 费城案
一家餐馆输掉官司，被迫付给一位来自宾州兰卡斯特的Amber Carson11.35万美元，因为地上滑跌碎尾骨。地上为何会滑？因为大约30秒前，她因争吵而将饮料泼向男友。
第二名 德拉瓦州克雷蒙案
一位小姐 Kara Walton为了逃避三块五的门票，想从厕所的窗户爬进一家夜总会，结果摔倒跌破两颗门牙。结果她告赢了夜总会得到1.2万美元，加上补牙的费用。
第一名 最後得奖的最有名的案子是奥克拉荷马的Merv Grazinski女士。
该女士买了一辆崭新的 32 英尺长的旅行车（有床、有厕、有厨房的 Motor home）。在回家的高速公路上，她把自动驾驶定在70英里的时速，就离开驾驶座到後面去煮咖啡了，最後当然出了大车祸。幸好该位老姐们还活着，并且状告该车制造厂，而得到 175万美元赔偿外加新车一辆，理由是车子的说明书上没有说，不可以离开驾驶座到後面去煮咖啡。案子过後，该制造厂真的把这一条加在说明书上了。
以上叙述得奖名次的部分为友人的中文翻译，本博纠正了一些误译处，如将第一名MervGrazinski女士译成先生等。以下附英文原文以便对照：
Stella AwardWinners 2010 – Head Scratchers
October 8, 2010
By Kevin D Flynn
It’s time again for the annual “Stella Awards.” For thoseunfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-oldStella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfullysued the McDonald’s in New Mexico , where she purchased coffee. Youremember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between herknees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could getburned doing that, right? That’s right; these are awards for themost outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, thekinds of cases that make you scratch your head and say WTF. So keepyour head scratcher handy.
Here are the Stellas for the past year:
SEVENTH PLACE
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $80,000 by ajury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddlerwho was running inside a furniture store. The store owners wereunderstandably surprised by the verdict, considering the runningtoddler was her own son. Start scratching!
SIXTH PLACE
Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California , won $74,000 plusmedical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a HondaAccord. Truman apparently didn’t notice there was someone at thewheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor’shubcaps. Scratch some more…
FIFTH PLACE
Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving ahouse he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunatelyfor Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and hecould not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn’t re-enterthe house because the door connecting the garage to the houselocked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count‘em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag ofdry dog food, he sued the homeowner’s insurance company claimingundue mental anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurancecompany must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should allhave this kind of anguish. Keep scratching .. There are more……Double hand scratching after this one…..
FOURTH PLACE
Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place inthe Stella’s when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expensesafter being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor’s beagle –even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner’s fenced yard.Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jurybelieved the beagle might have been provoked at the time of thebutt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yardand repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun. Pick a new spot toscratch, you’re getting a bald spot..
THIRD PLACE
Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, because a jury ordereda Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped ona spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the softdrink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend30 seconds earlier during an argument. Only two more so ease up onthe scratching….
SECOND PLACE
Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware , sued the owner of a nightclub in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window tothe floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms.Waltonwas trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid payingthe $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her$12,000 ….. oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. OK. Here we go!!
FIRST PLACE
This year’s runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs.Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , who purchased new32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OUfootball game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruisecontrol at 70 mph and calmly left the driver’s seat to go to theback of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly,the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also notsurprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in theowner’s manual that she couldn’t actually leave the driver’s seatwhile the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her —are you sitting down? — $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebagoactually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just incase Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motorhome.
